1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a wash plate for an automatic clothes washer and particularly to a wash plate comprising one or more blades formed at least in part by an insert.
2. Description of the Related Art
Automatic clothes washers, which are also commonly called washing machines, are well known appliances for washing clothing and other fabric items, such as towels, sheets, blankets, and the like. Clothes washers typically comprise a perforated basket located within an imperforate tub, with the basket being rotatable relative to the tub. The clothing is placed in the basket where the wash liquid is free to flow between the basket and the tub through the perforations. Clothes washers are either vertical axis machines, wherein the basket rotates about a generally vertical axis, or horizontal axis machines, wherein the basket rotates about a generally horizontal axis.
Vertical axis clothes washers usually include a wash plate mounted within the basket and moveable relative to the basket about the vertical axis to impart mechanical energy to submerged, partially submerged, or wetted clothes for moving the clothes within the basket. The wash plate can impart the mechanical energy to the clothes by directly contacting the clothes and/or moving the liquid to thereby move the clothes. Examples of such wash plates include an impeller, a nutator, and an agitator, which can be used alone or in combination with an auger. All of these wash plates are well known in the clothes washer art and have a variety of designs and structures. A common feature of most wash plates is a set of blades, fins, or other type of projection or protrusion (hereinafter referred to as blades) that extends from a base for imparting the mechanical energy to the clothes or wash fluid.
It is common in the industry for the entire wash plate, including the blades, to be constructed as a unitary piece made from a cost-effective polymer having a relatively low hardness, such as polypropylene. Because the polymer has a relatively low hardness, contact between the blades and the clothes tends to wear the blades over time. If the wear on the blades, which depends also on the types of clothes in the basket, is sufficient to change the shape and/or size of the blades, then the cleaning performance of the clothes washer can deteriorate. The wearing can also roughen the blade surface, which can undesirably increase the wear on the clothing being washed.
One solution to this problem is to replace the wash plate when the blades wear a predetermined amount; however, it is expensive and inconvenient to purchase and install an entire wash plate. Another solution is to make the wash plate, including the blades, from stainless steel, which is significantly harder than polypropylene and similar polymers and has an appearance generally associated with high end or premium goods. Nonetheless, stainless steel is considerably more expensive than polypropylene and similar polymers and, therefore, a wash plate made entirely of stainless steel undesirably increases the overall cost of the clothes washer.
A similar problem exists in horizontal axis clothes washer where the basket includes a set of circumferentially spaced blades that extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the basket and along the interior of the basket. As the basket rotates, the blades impart mechanical energy to the clothes to tumble the clothes within the basket. As with the wash plates described above, the basket and the blades are usually made of a polymer with a relatively low hardness, such as polypropylene, and the blades tend to wear over time due to the contact between the blades and the clothes. However, a basket, including the blades, constructed of wear-resistant stainless steel is very expensive and reserved for high end clothes washers.
It is therefore desirable for the blades of a clothes washer wash plate and a clothes washer horizontal basket to be wear resistant, easy to replace, and aesthetically appealing without significantly increasing the overall cost of the wash plate and basket, respectively.